Germany's BMW among suitors for US$6.4 bln ANZ car finance unit: source

[SYDNEY] Germany's BMW AG, Australia's Macquarie Group and a host of US private equity firms are expected to bid for Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's more than US$6 billion car and equipment loan book, a source said on Monday.

The automaker and Australia's top investment bank have requested information memorandums for the sale, as have buyout firms TPG, Blackstone and Carlyle, said the source who is involved in the process.

The sale of the car finance unit, called Esanda, is expected to fetch a price higher than the AUS$8.3 billion (US$6.35 billion) book value of the loans, the source told Reuters.

The strong global interest, even as world financial markets tumbled on concerns of a Greek default, suggests the sale will achieve its purpose of helping Australia's third-largest lender meet tough new requirements for higher cash reserves.

Spokespeople for BMW, Macquarie and Blackstone declined to comment, while representatives for TPG and Carlyle were not immediately available to comment.

The Esanda sale is being run by Deutsche Bank, which declined comment. ANZ also declined comment.

Another source involved in the process told Reuters that bankers running the sale were expected to compile a shortlist of bidders within a week, after first-round offers closed on Monday.

The bankers are then expected to open the unit's books for due diligence, a process expected to last about seven weeks, before calling for final offers, the source added.

Both sources could not be identified as the discussions were private.

Earlier this month, No 2-ranked Westpac Banking Corp announced a stake sale in its wealth management arm BT Investment Management in an effort to boost capital ratios.

In March, the Australian arm of GE Capital sold its consumer finance business to private equity firm KKR & Co LP for AUS$8.2 billion.

REUTERS